A bill that would allow the former Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood to be reopened as a regional jail has passed the state House of Representatives and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
The bill, which would also clear the way for a regional jail in Lee County, would authorize — though not require — the Mississippi Department of Corrections to reopen the shuttered facility to house state inmates.
The House passed the measure 117-0, with Rep. Linda Whittington, D-Schlater, and Rep. Bobby Howell, R-Kilmichael, both backing the measure. Rep. Willie Perkins, D-Greenwood, voted “present.”
A similar bill in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, R-Winona, passed out of committee but died after it didn’t come up for a full vote before a legislative deadline last week.
The former Delta Correctional Facility, a 1,300-inmate facility, was run by private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America before it was closed in January 2012. A portion of it continues to be used as the Leflore County Jail, though the majority of the space has sat empty.
Local officials have been seeking a new use for the facility since CCA pulled out, citing both the desire to attract jobs to the county and the inefficiency of running a county jail in a portion of a much larger site. Prior to its closing, CCA had employed about 200 people at the private prison.
Although the county currently houses fewer than 150 inmates there, the county’s utility costs for the entire compound have been averaging around $20,000 per month. Holding inmates in the rest of the prison facility would allow the county to split utility and maintenance costs and also more efficiently utilize the prison’s kitchen and laundry services.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
